Caminalcules Discovery

Transcription

Classifying Imaginary Animals by Analysis of Shared
Characteristics
About this Lesson
This lesson is a complex inquiry activity where students devise a system of classification for a
group of imaginary organisms which requires a good deal of higher order thinking and should
follow an introductory classification activity. The students are asked to assign scientific names to
the organisms to indicate the degree of relatedness based on similarities and differences in their
physical traits.
This lesson is included in the LTF Middle Grades Module 5.
Objectives
Students will:



Group imaginary organisms with similar characteristics
Assign scientific names to the organisms to indicate the degree of relatedness.
List at least three characteristics that all organisms in the species have in common.
Common Core State Standards for Science Content
LTF Science lessons will be aligned with the next generation of multi-state science standards that
are currently in development. These standards are said to be developed around the anchor
document, A Framework for K–12 Science Education, which was produced by the National
Research Council. Where applicable, the LTF Science lessons are also aligned to the Common
Core Standards for Mathematical Content as well as the Common Core Literacy Standards for
Science and Technical Subjects.
Code
Standard
(LITERACY)
RST.9-10.3
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when
carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or
performing technical tasks, attending to special cases
or exceptions defined in the text.
Level of
Thinking
Apply
Copyright © 2012 Laying the Foundation®, Inc., Dallas, Texas. All rights reserved. Visit us online at www.ltftraining.org.
Depth of
Knowledge
II
T E A C H E R
Level
Middle Grades: Life Science
Connections to AP*
AP Biology: This lesson addresses concepts contained in Big Idea 1 in the revised AP Biology
curriculum under the following section: 1.B.1.b
*Advanced Placement and AP are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board. The College
Board was not involved in the production of this product.
Materials
Each lab group will need the following:
copy of imaginary organisms
glue stick
pencil, colored
scissors
Assessments
The following types of formative assessments are embedded in this lesson:
 Visual assessment of student classification of Caminalcules.

Middle Grades Life: Evolution Assessment
Teaching Suggestions
The imaginary organisms presented here are called Caminalcules, named after evolutionary
taxonomist, Joseph Camin, who created them. Caminalcules Discovery is a complex inquiry
activity where students devise a system of classification for a group of imaginary organisms.
The students divide the Caminalcules into groups of families, genera, and species and create
scientific Latin-sounding names for each group. Because there are 29 different individual
Caminalcules, there are many potential ways to organize them into different classification
schemes. Caminalcules Discovery requires a good deal of higher order thinking and should
follow an introductory classification activity. Introductory classification activities may be found
in most textbook ancillary materials or on the internet.
T E A C H E R
The following assessments are located on the LTF website
 Short Lesson Assessment: Baby Dice Island
As an introduction to this activity you may wish to walk the students through a simple
classification scheme using their shoes as objects. Have all students remove one shoe and place
them on the floor in the middle of the room. Have the students look at the shoes in terms of
characteristics. “What are some characteristics we see in all those shoes?” The characteristics
observed could be: leather, shoelaces, Nikes, athletic, white, red, black, etc… Ask the question,
“What is one way that we could divide the shoes into two large groups?” Students could suggest
something like athletic shoes and non-athletic shoes. Have two or three students come up to the
front and put all the athletic shoes in one pile and all the non-athletic into another pile. Suggest a
Latin-sounding name for the athletic pile, perhaps “Athletica” and “Dressupica” for the nonathletic shoes. Then within the “Athletica” have students suggest another characteristic to
further sub-divide the shoes, such as: has laces or not (“Laceia” and “Velcroa”), leather or nonleather (“Leatherum” and “Nonleatherum”), by brand name, or some other way that your
students create. Within one of the subdivisions, such as “Laceia,” have students suggest further
subdivisions based on characteristics: “Whiteus” versus “Blackeus” and so on, again assigning
Latin-sounding names to these sub-groupings. Then continue with the non-athletic and further
subdivide into the smaller groups, to where you eventually have the smallest group of division.
The method of subdividing the shoes by shared characteristics can then be expanded to include
how all living species are classified and subdivided. In biology this is referred to as cladistics,
which hypothesizes relationships among organisms.
The pictures of the Caminalcules are copyrighted by the journal Systematic Biology and Robert
R. Sokal. They are used here with permission.
Important Definitions:
Linnaean Classification – An organizational scheme based on shared characteristics, resulting in
ranked groups (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species).
Taxonomy – The practice and science of classification based on characteristics.
Binomial Nomenclature – Use of genus and species name for identification of organisms. The
genus name is capitalized, the species name is lower case, and both are underlined (italicized in
type).
Shared Characteristic – A characteristic that two lineages or groups of organisms have in
common.
Derived Characteristic – A characteristic that evolved in the lineage and sets members of
different groups apart.
T E A C H E R
Once the groups of shoes have been subdivided, ask students to describe characteristics of the
groups of shoes and how those characteristics differ from other subgroups. If time permits, pile
all the shoes back together in a pile, pick 2 or 3 different students, and have them come up with
another classification scheme, this time using different characteristics to divide the groups of
shoes. The idea can then be presented that all the students in the Caminalcules activity can come
up with logical, yet different schemes of classification.
T E A C H E R
SAMPLE DATA
A sample of a student’s work appears in Figure 1. The student work represents just one way of
classifying the 29 Caminalcules. Perhaps you could show students this example on an overhead
to give them a concrete idea of how to begin classifying the Caminalcules into different groups.
This student has divided the Caminalcules into 4 families (from top to bottom): Dotsidae,
Blobidae, Potatodae, and Wingidae. The Dotsidae family has been subdivided into 2 genera,
which contain 1 species each: Wavidae feettogetherum and Bentidae feetapartum. These names
reflect the characteristics of the Caminalcules in those groups. Blobidae family is represented by
5 different species (also 5 genera): Smallheadidae roundtailum, Longneckidae pointum, and
Neckfoldidae antennum, Forktailidae armsuppum, and Mermaidtailidae bulgingeyesum. Again
the names reflect the physical characteristics. (An alternative way of classifying these would be
to put the Smallheadidae roundtailum, Longneckidae pointum, and Neckfoldidae antennum into
one genus, all three being different species. The names could perhaps be Roundplainbodium
roundtailum, Roundplainbodium pointium, Roundplainbodium antennum as these 3 groups have
similar enough characteristics that they could possibly be grouped together in one genus.) The
family Potatodae has been divided into Smalltailidae and Bigtailidae genera, again, with each
genera containing one species. The last family, Wingidae, was divided into 3 genera:
Normalidae, Longidae and Shortidae. This is not the perfect student assignment but represents a
very well thought-out classification scheme. All the genus and species names are underlined and
the family names were correctly given the –idae ending. One criticism for this particular
student’s work is the use of -idae in the genera naming scheme, as opposed to -a, -us, or -um, as
-idae is the Latin ending reserved for family names. Included on the student sample is the list of
characteristics that describe each one of the species groups. Figure 2 summarizes the previous
written explanation into an organizational flow chart.
T E A C H E R
Figure 1
Also included (Figure 3) is the student’s taxonomic tree, which was done correctly and awarded
extra credit.
The obvious “gray area” in this activity is deciding where the variation ends and begins between
different species and genera. As long as the student can explain and justify their scheme, full
credit should be awarded.
T E A C H E R
Figure 2
T E A C H E R
Figure 3
POSSIBLE ANSWERS TO THE CONCLUSION QUESTIONS
1. What difficulties did you experience in developing your classification system? Describe at
least two.
 Usually, the greatest difficulty is deciding how to differentiate the variation between a
genus and a species. The variation among a group of individuals could represent several
different species within the same genus, it could represent the variation that is naturally
present within one species, or it could possibly be interpreted as more than one genera.
 Another difficulty that students find is naming the groups with Latin-sounding names.
2. Explain why all Caminalcules are not placed in the same family.
 The number of differences in the characteristics between all the Caminalcules is too great
to represent just one biological family.
3. Explain how this activity illustrates the concept: “Classification is the grouping of objects
based on similarities and differences.”
 The students organize the groups of Caminalcules on the basis of shared characteristics
(and differences). The characteristics that are present in an individual Caminalcule
determine how closely related it is to another individual.
5. The technique of DNA sequencing has enabled scientists to create large data bases of
genomic sequences for different organisms. How do you think the ability to sequence an
organism’s entire genome could help to more accurately classify groups of organisms?
 Genome sequencing of biological groups of organisms has revolutionized the field of
classification. Now entire DNA sequences can be analyzed by computers to determine
which organisms are more closely related, by comparing the number of shared nucleotide
bases. Using DNA sequence comparisons between different species can tell a much more
accurate story of relatedness and evolutionary history than just observing external
characteristics.
T E A C H E R
4. What is one inherent problem with a classification scheme based only on different physical
characteristics?
 Different scientists could see different ways to organize and classify the same group of
organisms.
Characteristics
PURPOSE
In this activity you will reinforce the concept of classification by grouping imaginary organisms
with similar characteristics.
MATERIALS
Each lab group will need the following:
copy of imaginary organisms
glue stick
pencil, colored
scissors
Safety Alert
Always use care when handling scissors.
The imaginary organisms presented here are called Caminalcules, named after the evolutionary
taxonomist, Joseph Camin, who created them. Caminalcules Discovery is a complex inquiry
activity where you devise a system of classification for a group of imaginary organisms. You
will divide the Caminalcules into groups of families, genera, and species and create scientific
Latin-sounding names for each group.
PROCEDURE
1. Study the set of imaginary organisms on the “Caminalcules” sheet and carefully cut out each
individual organism with your scissors.
2. In this activity, you are the scientist that discovered a new group of animals, which you have
named “Caminalcules.” You have researched their physiology and behavior very thoroughly
and have identified them as members of the following groups: Domain Eukarya, Kingdom
Animalia, Phylum Mollusca, Class Imaginata, Order Ridiculosea. It will be your
responsibility to classify and create names for the family, genus and species levels for these
organisms.
3. Organize the Caminalcules into families as you see fit. Within each family further subdivide
the group into genus and species on the basis of similar characteristics, even though no two
Caminalcules are identical (remember there is wide variation within the human species as
well).
4. Once you have sorted the organisms into their respective species, neatly glue each group of
organisms onto your student answer page. Leave plenty of room to write in family and
scientific names above each group and three shared traits below each group. To best
organize your groups place different species of the same genus next to each other on your
page.
5. You will need to invent family names for each family you created. (note: family names
always end in: “idae”) Write the family name above each family.
6. For each of the species groups create a “scientific name” in the form of Homo sapiens and
write it below the family name on your paper. You should create six to ten scientific names,
depending upon how many groups you have in your classification system. All individuals in
the same species should have the same scientific name. In other words, even though there
are some minor individual differences, all organisms in the same group should be enough
alike to be placed in the same “species.” When naming the species, try to make them
“sound” Latin; e.g., Burritos longus. Remember, the genus name is capitalized, the specific
epithet is not, and the scientific name (genus + specific epithet) is underlined or italicized.
Also, some Caminalcule species may be closely related (very similar) and may be placed in
the same genus.
7. Below each species grouping, list at least three characteristics that all organisms in the
species have in common.
8. For extra credit, create an evolutionary tree with lines drawn between your species to show
how your different species are related to each other. Your teacher will show you an example
of an evolutionary tree that a student has drawn previously.
CAMINALCULES
CAMINALCULES
Characteristics
CAMINALCULE CLASSIFICATION
Once you have organized and classified your Caminalcules into groups, use the glue stick to
adhere the individuals to this page. Be sure to glue the Caminalcules that share the most
characteristics more closely together.
CONCLUSION QUESTIONS
1. What difficulties did you experience in developing your classification system? Describe at
least two.
2. Explain why all Caminalcules are not placed in the same family.
3. Explain how this activity illustrates the concept: “Classification is the grouping of objects
based on similarities and differences.”
4. What is one inherent problem with a classification scheme based only on different physical
characteristics?
5. The technique of DNA sequencing has enabled scientists to create large data bases of
genome sequences for different organisms. How do you think the ability to sequence an
organism’s entire genome could help to more accurately classify groups of organisms?

Caminalcules Discovery

Transcription

Similar documents

Introduction to the 5 Kingdoms

Micro Organism Kingdoms In this page I will explain the differences

Week 11, Class 2

Inanimate Matter vs Living Organisms

WHAT TO PACK FOR YOUR STAY AT UMNGAZI

Building a phylogenetic tree 134567 Wojciech Grajkowski bio

Let`s Classify Organisms

Interview with an amoeba - ACCESS

Waterworld without borders

evolution - NCERT (ncert.nic.in)

Earth`s ecosystems - U

PDF/A

the Educator Guide

ScienceWorld 7

Campbell Biology, 10th Editon AP® Edition

Protostome Animals

here. - Bergey`s Manual Trust

PDF

Germainiella clandestina sp. nov. (Bacillariophyta), a new

Louboutin Retrospective - University of Sheffield

Biology 1 (Year 10)

Holyoke Public Schools Middle School Science Curriculum Map